Today is my first day on the 5/2 diet. I was hoping to just not eat if possible on the fast days as eating can really stimulate my hunger. Sometimes it seems easier just to forego food altogether. Any thoughts on this?? Has anyone else tried this strategy?

Try both 0 calories and 500/600 and see which works best for you. I tried not eating anything, but that felt like torture. 500 and not eating anything until noon works best for me. But lots of people do 0 calories and really like it.

It’s very much an option whether you eat or not on FDs.
I usually fast until dinner time as it means I can have a good size dinner and don’t go to bed hungry, but occasionally I just have tea and coffee both of which I take with a splash of milk, and lots of water.

As Cinque and CD have wisely said, try a few things out and find what suits you.